Tag: nationalism

Coronavirus, Domestic Policy

Coronavirus – America’s Moment

Bob Claude |

O my fellow citizens, each one of you carries on your shoulders not only the burden of doing well for the sake of your own country, but the burden of doing well and of seeing that this nation does well for the sake of mankind. 

Theodore Roosevelt, The New Nationalism, August 31, 1910

The measures outlined by President Trump to control the spread of the coronavirus at his March 16 news conference certainly are drastic and disruptive. However, a recent article on the medium.com website (https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca) presented both a statistically comprehensive and horrifying prediction of the public health crisis we may be facing as soon as April if we do not stem the tide of COVID-19 cases. As of today, there are 6496 confirmed cases with 112 deaths.  The number of cases are thus matching the hyperbolic increase that the article predicted.  

This crisis challenges not only each of us personally, but also the democratic model that inspired the world from the days of the American Revolution.  As Americans, we need to pull together and help our country triumph over this challenge and show how a free people can unify to defeat it. In addition to the precautions announced on March 16, here are some other things to consider. 

The article warns that our current health care infrastructure may quickly be overwhelmed by  serious COVID-19 cases.  To close this gap, people who are otherwise healthy should consider making themselves available to volunteer at hospitals and other facilities to assist health care professionals.  Another alternative is to provide child care for health care workers whose children are at home alone due to school cancellations or extended work hours. You could also become a delivery driver helping to deliver food to mild home bound COVID-19 sufferers.   Employers should support such volunteerism from those currently working from home and universities should encourage students to participate. Churches, state and local authorities could help by establishing easily-accessible on-line lists of potential volunteers.  Hopefully, we will  have distributed enough tests by then to clear those volunteers.  In any case, each of us will have to evaluate our ability to positively contribute to the response. 

In his book Democracy in America, the French author Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at the unique spirit of volunteerism he saw in his travels around the country. China is attempting to hide the early mistakes of its response by touting the later success of its heavy-handed totalitarian controls. They hope to use this to promote their form of government as a model for the world. In fact, they engaged in a four-month coverup of the outbreak because, like most dictators, they are inherently afraid of the truth. This cost thousands of Chinese lives and delayed an effective world response.  We must counter Chinese propaganda by showing that a free nation like America can be demonstrably more successful in dealing with such a crisis. Now more than ever, the future of our American values and model of government is up to each of us. 

Foreign Policy, Realist Theory

Opening the Pandora’s Box

Bob Claude |

The killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and President Trump’s statement after Iran’s retaliatory missile strike unlocked a Pandora’s box of issues for both the the United States and the world.  All of them had to be dealt with at some point, but it would have been better to have done so through a measured and deliberate diplomatic process where the consequences could be managed over a longer period of time. The choices America must now quickly confront are many, but break down into four categories:

The extent to which American presidents should have the power to commit American military resources against terrorist groups and other nation-states. 

The wisdom and future of America’s involvement in the Middle East.

The future of European relations with America and the rest of the world.

The implications for the balance of power in Asia and the structure of international relations throughout the world.

The American nationalist and realist solution would be to end our involvement in the Middle East quagmire, reject the uni-polar dream of imposing a worldwide liberal hegemony and start to transition to a foreign policy that accepts the multi-polar world of diverse world powers and the dynamic shifting alliances that will be necessary to protect American interests in such a world.  This is truly the new world order.

If American democracy is to succeed in this international system, we must begin building the domestic and international framework necessary to achieve the support of the American public for the policies required to win in this new order.  Americans deserve to hear the 2020 presidential candidates take positions on each of the above issues to insure that the ultimate decisions are primarily driven by the American people and not a distant elite or, worse, by the decisions of hostile nations. This summary will begin a series of posts that will identify some of the hydra-headed choices facing us in each of these four categories.

General

The Origins of the Trump Revolution

Bob Claude |

The 2016 election ushered in a realignment of the political culture from a debate about big vs. small government and social issues to a one between globalism vs. nationalism. Aspects of those old debates remain, but they are now best understood as a clash between globalist elites ideologically committed to free trade, immigration and relaxed social values versus those who believe that stable families and the preservation of a national identity and the American Dream are more important. The attached article from 2016 is thus still relevant, if simply because it explains why approximately 40% of the electorate remains devoted to President Trump in spite of his obvious personal failures.

Politics has become more caustic because neither side fully recognizes this new alignment and the realistic legitimacy of the other side of the spectrum. To avoid this reality, media and governmental elites obsessively recycle the old debates much as the politics of the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century degenerated into recycling old arguments about alcohol temperance, immigration, and responsibility for the Civil War (Rum, Romanism and Rebellion).

The rise of the Populist Party in the late 1800’s forced economic inequality, pernicious market power and the resulting crisis in democracy to the front of the debate. Eventually, the confrontational populist approach gave way to the Progressive Era, of which Theodore Roosevelt was a leader.

Donald Trump clearly is not that leader. However, his election will hopefully open the system to a new more constructive approach to the same kinds of issues that exist today. Whether this will require a new political party or an ideological shakeup of the current two parties still remains to be seen.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/03/08/the_25-year_tide_that_gave_us_trump_129902.html